LEGO Universe
Used ambiguously; term refers to either the area the game is played in or the game itself. LEGO Universe (LU for short) is an MMOG by LEGO and NetDevil that is set to be released October 26th, 2010. Several characters which may appear in LEGO Universe have been released in My LEGO Network, though whether or not they will appear in the finished game is unconfirmed. Professor Brickkeeper is the MLN mascot, and was introduced to give MLN users the ability to show off their creations from the Creation Lab. This was done by the use of Plastic-pellet Modules, which grew about five pellets a day. Gameplay LEGO has confirmed that LEGO Universe will be cooperatively played with others to accomplish in-game tasks rather than PvP (player versus player) gameplay. For example, as shown in a walkthrough video taken at CES 2010, there are some special "gold bricks" within LEGO Universe, which, at times, can only be obtained with the help of friends. This seems to relate with one of Universe's predecessor games, LEGO Star Wars II, which promotes, obtaining "Gold Bricks" by completing hard tasks (i.e. retrieve 5,000,000 money.) Quick Build Another gameplay feature is Quick Build, which allows a user to quickly build an item. This can be used to make turrets, vehicles (only shown in early concept video, and not quite confirmed as of now), and other useful objects. In some video walkthroughs, it can be found that some destroyed Stromlings can be turned into other helpful objects, such as turrets, with the use of Quick Build. Properties In yet another CES 2010 video, it was confirmed and shown that a player will have his/her own Property, in which they can use bricks collected from battles, shops, and other locations to build houses and other models. (All models are approved before public availability, of course.) As of the Closed Beta Phase, it is reported on some sources that a user can use up to 80,000 lego bricks. Animation Capabilities One other feature of properties (shown in the same CES 2010 video) reveals that a user will be able to animate objects and/or pets within their property, using a block-programming system named "behaviors" similar to the one used with the Mindstorms robotic models. A user can have an animal or object do certain things upon nearing them, saying a keyword, as well as many other possibilities. The user can then adjust the numerical value of each property of the programming, to create a truly unique animation. This is a very flexible and understandable way of programming bricks; unique to games such as ROBLOX; which requires scripting to accomplish the same tasks. Pre-order Pre-ordering was once available from LEGOshop.com. Pre-ordering, opened May 14th, would be a way to pre-pay for the game. Pre-ordering would get you a limited LEGO Universe minifigure with in-game codes that unlocked a related Astronaut item pack and a 1-month subscription to the game. Those who pre-ordered also earned early access to the game, on October 8, 2010 (originally October 12). The DVD cost is $39.99 USD (£29.99). Subscription Costs: Graphics The graphics are reported to be better than any other LEGO Game past. The graphical concept likely originates from the retro LEGO game "Backlot" which is similar to LEGO Universe but with much cruder 3D graphics, and of course, was not multiplayer - the story was not similar either. Ingame World LEGO Universe also refers to the world itself that the game is played in; it consists of many different worlds which were once part of the planet "Crux" - the Planet exploded when the Imagination Nexus was corrupted and turned into the Maelstrom. The only means of transport across the worlds now is by rocket ship. See Also *The Official LEGO Universe Site *LEGO Universe Beta Signups *Professor Brickkeeper *Numb Chuck *Captain Jack Knife *LEGO Universe Newsletter Category:games